Leah's Goodbye
by Reijilie
Summary: *Set after Breaking Dawn* Leah followed Jake and the Cullen's to the ends of the earth, leaving suddenly after falling for the married Carlisle Cullen. When she seeks him out,after 40 years apart, it is to share some horrible news. C/L fluff Oneshot


**A/N:** So this story was written at the request of ozzie13. First of all, it's super exciting because a) I'm breaking my Leah-not-being-with-Jake-or-Embry cherry and b) It's my only non M rated story!! *dances*. Okies I'm really interested to see what people think of this pairing (I honestly had never considered it until you mentioned it oz, hope you like it bb xoxo)

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Carlisle ran his fingers through his wispy white hair for the tenth time in as many minutes. He was busying his hands- fidgeting like a nervous human. It had been close to 40 years since they had last seen one another, although he could probably narrow it down to the number of days, minutes and hours if he let himself. How she had found him, here, continents away from where they parted, was a mystery to him. But then again, Leah Clearwater had always been a mystery to him.

A light tap at the door sent his non-existent heart into his throat as he allowed himself a second to remember just how human she made him feel. She was only the second female to achieve this during the centuries of monotony and the feelings she stirred inside of him were similar to what he imagined caused drug addicts to kill for their next fix.

"Come in." He called, as calmly as his voice allowed.

As she stood in the open doorway it was as if the decades apart had never happened. Her brown skin was still satin on her limbs, taught and golden, eternally sun kissed. Her eyes were as striking as ever- so close to black they were mesmerizing, unnatural. Her body was the same as it had always been, slender and toned while curvaceous where it mattered. Her hips, her waist, her breasts...every part of her was a credit to God's masterful hands.

And yet he noticed some changes in her. Her hair was longer than he had ever seen it. It fell to the small of her back, resting just above the curve of the hips he had just been admiring. Her face had aged, only slightly, but enough to put her past her mid-twenties. There were light frown lines embedded in her forehead and her once perfect skin had the markings of past blemishes. It was her skin that exposed her as a human, as did her intoxicating scent.

"It's so good to see you Leah."

"You too, Carlisle. It has been too long."

"I agree. I apologise, after our last encounter I thought it inappropriate for me to attempt to contact you. I hope you have been well."

"I told you if you tried to find me I would rip your face of Dr C- it's only fair you didn't try to reach me."

Carlisle cracked a smile. Truthfully he had no idea what to expect when Leah had contacted him. Her message was no more than instructions to be alone in his practice half an hour after he closed, and to be expecting her. Their last meeting had ended in a heated fight where Leah, who had grown as close to him as any of his family, turned her back on both her Alpha and the Cullen's, and disappeared from their lives.

"I see you were able to control your phasing. When did you stop?"

"About six years ago now."

"I'm very happy for you. You always aspired to reach this point, I'm glad you did so."

"It's not all it's cracked up to be." She shrugged. A goal she was so desperate for had been achieved and she stood humbly before him, shrugging.

"_God, how I have missed her."_ He thought to himself, showing no trace of it on his face.

She entered the room, and placed her coat on the coat rack near the door.

"I leave these things everywhere- I swear all my money goes into extra clothing. Who knew I'd miss getting around in winter half naked?" She said as she sat in the chair opposite him. He sat down too, their knees almost touching, as he remembered how much he had missed her voice.

"So, how's life? The Cullen clan still going strong I suppose? How are Em and Rose?"

"They're good. They are currently in Spain, working towards building schools for the local children. A few have become quite fond of Rose and call her Mama Rosalie."

"She'd like that very much." Leah smiled. She and Rose had grown close over the half century they spent together as a family, while Leah traveled as the sole member of Jake's pack. She had never warmed to Bella and at times found Alice to be too much to handle, but she and Rose had always shared the same outlook on the world.

Slightly bitter, slightly jaded…slightly hopeful.

"Jake and Ness are still with Bella and Edward in South America. They have a home and are an active part of the community there. They're planning on moving on soon, the Southern hemisphere this time. New Zealand or Australia, they're not sure."

"Oh I know about Jake, he sends me updates pretty regularly, especially of my goddaughter."

"Yeah, little Leah is a lot like you. There must be something in that name. She's feisty and speaks her mind."

"Glad to hear it. Someone needs to keep Jake's stubborn ass in check." Leah stopped for a moment as her face grew serious. She hesitated before asking her next question. "And, how is Esme?"

"Leah, there is no need to feel the guilt that you do. She loves you, she has always loved you as if you were one of her children, and she will always love you."

"I don't deserve that." She answered, dropping her head.

"It's her nature, regardless, but you need to stop holding on to this guilt Leah. It's not good for you."

Her eyes remained focused on her lap as he stood in front of her. He crouched down, his face just below hers, and lifted her chin up with his hand. Her eyes were glistening and she refused to look at him.

"I told you then and I will tell you now- we didn't do anything wrong Leah."

"But she was like a mother to me and then I turned around and did _that_ to her?"

"We fell in love Leah- it was no one's fault. It was unexpected and our dishonesty made it into something worse than it was. You have to understand though, Esme and I have been together for over a century now- our love has developed into something different. We only want what is best for each other."

He placed his hand on Leah's cheek. She ran her fingers up his arm and covered it with her own.

"You're touch doesn't burn like it used to." She smiled, with sorrow in her eyes. Always that same sorrow in her eyes.

"Yours too, not that it wasn't worth the pain before."

"I've missed you so much." She whispered to hide the cracks in her voice.

"I'm so glad you found me Leah. I think about you every day. The way you would roll your eyes at me, or the all too familiar frown you wore. The gold in your skin and the onyx in your eyes. Then there were sounds you would make when your lips were near my ear, the way your burning hands would run over my skin and the way your lips would scorch their way around my neck...every part of you has haunted me since you left."

Leah brushed her hand through his hair, bringing it behind his ear and moving her finger tip along his hard jaw line. She let it fall to his lap as she cupped both of his hands between her own.

"I'm sorry for what I said that day. I was tired of the guilt I was feeling towards Esme, regardless of how supposedly okay she was with the situation. I was also sick of Edward lecturing me on the evils of coming between a married couple as well as, well as it being too hard for me to keep being around you."

"You didn't need to apologise, but thank you anyway. I know Edward gave you some trouble but it's all in the past now. You coming to see me today has made me happier than you can realise and I hope this means you will become a fixture in our lives once again, Leah. We have all missed you terribly."

Her hand moved quickly back into her own lap and she looked almost offended at what he had said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound presumptuous. It was wishful thinking, you reaching out to me like this, I.."

"...I actually came to see you as Dr. Cullen." She said, stopping him short.

"Oh?" He was unable to hide the disappointment in his voice. "Of course, well what can I do for you? Is everything okay?"

"No it's not."

A panic swept over him he had forgotten he was capable of.

"Please Leah, what is wrong?"

"I have an inoperable brain tumour, the brain stem of all places."

"What?!" Carlisle flew into an uncharacteristic rage "How do they know it's inoperable? Who are 'they' to judge, I need names, credentials."

"'They' just do, calm down. They're the doctors and they're telling me it's inoperable."

"They haven't tried. I'll admit you immediately and run all the appropriate scans and tests. If there is a way of curing this thing, I will find it."

"It has already spread to my spine. I found it too late. I was out of practice reading the signs of my body and now..."

"No, Leah, I refuse to let it be too late. We will, we'll....there has to be something we can do to slow it at least. If we can prolong it for a few months maybe we can figure out how to rid you of it. I just need time to consult with a few leading brain surgeons and refresh my knowledge of the subject- it isn't my area of expertise. If anyone can do this it's me, you know that. I will do anything to get you well again, I have to."

"I have days Carlisle, weeks if I'm lucky."

He was shouting now as he leapt to his feet.

"Damn it Leah! Why did you leave it so long to tell me?"

She shouted back.

"I'm sorry if I had other things to concern myself with. Tidying up my affairs and planning my own funeral being a couple of them. I guess I have my answer though. You really can't do anything can you?"

"You know I can't..."

Leah got to her feet and collected her coat from the coat hanger by the door. It was then Carlisle saw a slight shake in her walk and the speed at which she moved. He had been awestruck by her beauty, that same familiar feeling he had had when they first fell for one another, and now he was able to see past it to the truly sick woman she had become.

"I guess I really came to say goodbye then, if for nothing else. I have lived for longer than most, seen more than I have cared too. A rest will be a nice change of pace."

Carlisle moved to her side in less than a second.

"It doesn't have to end like this Leah, you know that."

His voice was desperate as he begged her, his face only an inch from his own.

"And spend the rest of eternity wanting what I can't have? I can't do it, not again. It has taken me years to get over what we had and to find out that after each failed attempt at starting anew I would never be able to find what I wanted. A replacement for you."

Carlisle grabbed her weak human body and pulled it into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and she froze for a moment before dropping her coat and gripping him tightly back.

"I really did love you" She said into his chest. He could feel her tears as they began to seep through his shirt.

"Did? Well, I never stopped and I have no intention of ever stopping"

They stood together, holding one another, as they both appreciated each other's arms.

"Do you know what I miss the most? When you would play with my hair until I fell asleep."

Carlisle laughed.

"I used to love watching you sleep in my arms-I often think about it still. You would smile in your sleep and I liked to imagine you were dreaming about me"

Leah blushed slightly.

"I probably was you know, I often still have dreams about you."

And then they were silent again, both knowing the years had done nothing to lessen the attraction they felt towards one another.

"I should go." Leah said as she pulled herself from his embrace.

"Please Leah, consider my offer. I could turn you and we could find a way to..."

"...No Carlisle. I don't think I can go through this again, vampire or not. I don't have the strength."

Carlisle wanted to beg, to get on his knees and convince her otherwise but he knew Leah and he knew there was no point. He couldn't stand to look at her anymore for fear of turning her against her will, of forcing her into this life. He had never encountered a human he had wanted to this too more than her.

He forced his feet to walk him to his desk as he turned his back on the door and waited to hear it close. Then he felt a hand as it reached up his arm and sat on the back of his neck.

"There is one thing I want before I leave you."

He turned to her in an instant.

"Anything, Leah whatever you want."

"In all the times we were together we barely kissed for fear of your venom poisoning me. Well, now I'm human, and I'm about to die anyway. I want to kiss you. I want you to kiss me like we are in love, like a normal couple living outside the realm of the supernatural. I want you to kiss me like we are each other's world and we have some kind of future together. I want you to forget this conversation and take me in your arms and..."

Before she could finish her sentence he had her in her arms as his lips met with hers. She could feel the control it was taking him not to crush her in the process as his frozen lips met with her warm mouth. His hands trailed up her waist and around her back and she moaned into his mouth. He parted her lips and for the first time ever she was able to taste the venom that had kept them apart from this form of intimacy.

He pulled her body up onto his desk as he moved into her again, letting their tongues move against one another as he began to remove her shirt. She removed his labcoat and placed her hands on the small of his back, moving them downwards to slide below his belt.

"Oh god" She manged "We can't do this."

He moved his lips to her earlobe, placing a light kiss on it before moving down her jaw and stopping at her collarbone.

"Leah I can't let you go now. I can't let you go again."

"But you have to."

"I'll stay with you until the end, even if it means neither of us leaving this office until your...time.

He ran his nose back up her neck and met with her lips again as she pulled his hand up her waist and on to her breast.

"Fuck it." She said pulling away from him "Let's do it"

"If you're sure Leah." His lips returned back to hers.

"No, I mean, the change. I'm not ready to let this go yet, I want you to change me."

Carlisle stopped that very second and looked her deep in the eyes. He attempted to hide the excitement in his voice wanting in no part to influence her final decision.

"Are you sure about this Leah?"

"Being human was fun while it lasted but I'm done with it. Do it, change me. I don't want to think about the future, I want to think about now and right now I want to know that I can be with you for longer than a week."

"But are you sure?"

"Oh for fucks sake you pansy" She grabbed him to her lips once again and licked at the venom that lined his teeth. "After the change is over I'm going to do things to your body that you've never seen in all of your centuries on earth. I'm going to make you feel things that you've never felt before and I'm going to test this Vampiric stamina of yours. I hear newborns are rather...insatiable."

Her hands moved up under his shirt and along the front of his stomach as she sat them under his belt buckle. He smiled and moved his lips lightly over her own before resting them on her neck. Tilting her head back, they said goodbye to the human Leah Clearwater forever.


End file.
